Refrigerator-car.



No. 687,34l. Patented luv; 26, I901. -T. J. RYAN.

REFRIGERATOR GAR.

' (Application filed Mar. 6, 1899. Renewed my 16, 19Q1.) (No Model.)

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. RYAN, .OF. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TO AUGUSTUS TREADWELL, JR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

REFRIGERATOR-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 687,341, dated November 26, 1901. Application filed March 6, 1899. Renewed May 16, 1901. Serial No. 6 1613- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. RYAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator- Cars, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient refrigeratorcar; and the invention consists in the features, combinations, and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a Vertical sectional elevation of a portion of a car constructed in accordance with my improvements, and Fig. 2 an enlarged crosssectional detail taken on line 2 of Fig. 1.

In the art to which this invention relates it is Well known that in the refrigerator-cars now in use a great many tons of ice are used daily in each car and that the cost of such ice and the labor of replenishing the cars are considerable.

The principal object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient refrigerating-car which will dispense with the necessity of using ice for the purpose of refrigeration in cars, all of which will more fully hereinafter appear.

In constructing a car in accordance with my improvements I use a body. portion A of the desired size, shape, and strength.' In order to carry on the process of refrigeration, I provide the car-body with a frame portion having a plurality of ventilating-openings a a at the ends and side portions thereof,-each of which is provided with a plurality of inwardly and downwardly extending slats a. Arranged adjacent to these slats is a series of continuous inclined open channels, extend ing back and forth along the car sides and formed of shallow pans B, having sides or side flanges formed either integral with the pans or by the sides of the cars arranged in the form of steps I), each step being adapted to hold water for a period of time adjacent to the inrush of air while the car is in motion. The advantages of this construction are that while the car is in motion the cool air is passed over the sheet of water so as to contact it, and 5:

thereby cool the same in its downward passage from a supply-tank O to a waste-tank (3, thus assisting materially in keeping the temperature of the inner portion of the car at the desired point. The inclined slats serve to carry the splashing water back into the pans and to deflect the air toward the water.

To circulate the water, a force-pump D is provided, which has an inlet-pipe (1 leading from the waste-chamber and a delivery-pipe (1 leading to the supply-chamber. This forcepump may be operated either by having mech= anism connecting it with the axle of the car or a steam-pipe connecting with a source of steam-supply in the locomotive.

I claim- 1. In a car of the class described, the combination of a car-body provided with a Vontilating opening or openings, and a continu ous side flanged open channel or duct for conveying water arranged in the car-body and adjacent to the ventilating openings, substantially as described.

2. I 11 a car of the class described, the combination of a car-body provided with a ventilating opening or openings, and a graduallydeclining continuous side flanged open channel or duct for conveying Water arranged ad jacent to the ventilating opening or openings, substantially as described.

3. In a car of the class described, the com bination of a car-body provided with one or more ventilating-openings, and a continuous side flanged open inclined guide or channel arranged in a series of steps adjacent to the ventilating-openings so as to convey water, substantially as described.

4. In a car of the class described, the combination of a car-body provided with one or more ventilating-openings, a plurality of inclined slats in each opening, and a continuous side flanged open inclined guide or chan nel arranged in a series of steps adjacent to the ventilating-openings, substantially as de= scribed.

5. In a car of the class described, the combination of a car-body provided with one or more ventilating-openings in the sides thereof, a set of continuous side flanged openstepped channels arranged back andforth along the oar-body and adjacent to the ventilating-openings so as to convey water therein, a supply-tank at or near the roof of thecar, a receiving or Waste tank at or near the bottom portion of the car, and a force-pump for taking'water from the Waste-tank and supplying it to the supply-tank, substantially as described. THOMAS J. RYAN. Witnesses:

-THOMAS F. SHERIDAN,

THOMAS- Bj MCGREGOR. 

